Pubdate: Tue, 13 Jun 2000 Source: Toronto Sun (CN ON) Copyright: 2000, Canoe Limited Partnership. Contact: 333 King St. E., Toronto, Ontario M5A 3X5 Canada Fax: (416) 947-3228 Website: http://www.canoe.ca/TorontoSun/ Forum: http://www.canoe.ca/Chat/newsgroups.html Author: Sharon Lem POT STILL MOSTLY FOR FUN About 7% of Ontario adults use marijuana but only a few use it for medical reasons, a new survey shows. A telephone survey of Ontarians 18 years and older asked how many had used marijuana in the previous year and how many had done so for medical purposes. It found 49 of 2,527 people surveyed (1.9%) had used pot in the previous year for a medical condition, while 173 (6.8%) had used it mostly for recreation. "We were surprised the number had been as high as it was. This was the first study anywhere to find out how many people out there are using marijuana for medical reasons," said Dr. Reginald Smart of the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health. Marijuana is used by patients to alleviate cancer pain, reduce nausea caused by chemotherapy or mitigate the wasting syndrome of AIDS. The research -- in the Canadian Medical Association Journal -- found that, compared with non-users, those who used marijuana for any reason tended to be younger, more likely to have alcohol problems and more likely to have used cocaine. - --- MAP posted-by: Allan Wilkinson